Category: Year in Review: 2007

On Friday, February 29, 2008, Dow Jones VentureSource released data on venture capital investment in clean technology in 2007. Their data indicated that on a global basis, there was $3 billion in venture capital invested in 221 "clean technology" deals in 2007. This amount was a record level of annual investment and a 43% increase over the $2.1 billion invested in 2006. Please refer to the Dow Jones VentureSource announcement for additional data and methodology notes.

According to Jessica Canning, Director of Global Research for Dow Jones VentureSource, "Clean technology is no longer wishful thinking. With record-high fuel prices, ongoing debate over carbon emissions, and the potential for favorable legislation following this fall’s election, investors recognize that the time is ripe for innovation and investment in this area."

Today’s edition of the San Francisco Chronicle profiles Vinod Khosla (founder of Khosla Ventures) in one of its 2007 year-in-review "Faces of Business 2007" stories. The profile describes Khosla’s background and his current approach to investing in clean tech / green tech, for example:

His willingness to buck conventional wisdom and finance big, game-changing ideas has placed Khosla at the forefront of green tech. Here, all the challenges are huge, and the technology is disruptive. If things go the way Khosla wants, our entire fossil fuel-dependent energy system will get turned on its head.

One of his startups, Range Fuels, is building a bio-refinery in Georgia that will make ethanol from wood scraps left over from timber harvests. Another, Ausra, plans to build large solar thermal power plants in Central and Southern California, generating power for far less money than rooftop solar panels can. Similar solar plants have been in use in California for decades, but Ausra uses a unique design that should be cheaper to mass produce.

Eric Straser, a general partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures, leads that firm’s venture capital investments in clean tech. He sees 2007 as the year that Silicon Valley cemented its leadership position in environmental technologies.

"The valley is doing what it’s always done: identify and highlight those problems and then attack it with great technology and labor force," Straser said. "It’s no surprise to me that three or four years into the clean tech movement, the valley is a leader."